[RFC] Hide forum (f) variable from topic url

[Louis7777]

I just realised that if we visit the same topic with and without f=
The one without does not display the who is online list.
I tried to investigate it, but it called the same functions with the same parameters, ran the same query and got different results :-O

Okay, so we use f= from the URL and store it in the sessions table.
So when we remove it from the URL, the user is not listed as online in this forum.

Try yourself:
https://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopi ... 11#p263511
https://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopi ... 08&t=45551
https://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopi ... 11#p263511
https://area51.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=45551

Code from viewtopic.php:

Code: Select all

// We overwrite $_REQUEST['f'] if there is no forum specified
// to be able to display the correct online list.
// One downside is that the user currently viewing this topic/post is not taken into account.
if (!request_var('f', 0))
{
	$request->overwrite('f', $forum_id);
}

A fix has been merged:
https://github.com/phpbb/phpbb/pull/5012

So f= is now obsolete.

URLs look simpler and prettier without it.

Since there's no problem in having it I can't create a ticket for a bug, so I'm just posting here.

If I were to create a ticket, what type would be valid? Minor bug? Small improvement?